Period gang drama Peaky Blinders drew to a grisly conclusion a couple of weeks back but the look Cillian Murphy's Thomas Shelby wore is far from finished. The directional haircut – a kind of undercut with bowlish tendencies – worn with a rounded collar shirt, tweed jacket and waistcoat might be just the thing in 1919 Birmingham but it's also doing the rounds in 2013 east London. Moving on from the 60s-tinged school of dressing, menswear now has a new reference.

Five years ago, web developers in Shoreditch were wearing Barbours and pretending to be farmers – something that Mumford & Sons took to a spoof-worthy extreme. The focus has shifted. It's now about a look that can broadly be dated to post-first-world-war. Its archetype isn't posh but it's not hunky agricultural labourer either. Instead, think sensitive craftsman.

Why is this look taking off nearly 100 years after it was first worn? Fashion loves putting a spotlight on something obscure and, without an obvious subculture (the 60s, say), this particular style hasn't been cool before. It was a bit dowdy and make-do – but, in austerity Britain, that's perfect. It works within a wider nostalgia for a hardy, heroic Britain in the Keep Calm and Carry On poster on the kitchen walls of shared houses, the patriotic domesticity of hit series The Great British Bake Off and war re-enactment weekends for thirtysomethings. These clothes aren't about high fashion – they're more the logical drip-down of this lifestyle trend.

Alexander McQueen, SS14. Photograph: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Clothes that can be traced back to where they were made, traditional cuts reworked and words such as "craftsmanship", "workwear" and "artisan" are replacing references to Don Draper's tux-and-blonde glamour as the boxes to tick. Asos says sales of workboots have more than doubled since last year, and All Saints' Marshall-style boots – almost soldier-worthy – are a bestseller. Topman, that litmus test of what most men actually wear, has increased its Made In England suiting range, with jackets and waistcoats selling well.

"There's a return to nostalgic items that emanate from their surroundings," says design director Gordon Richardson. "This collection is produced in an old factory in the north of England." It's not a wholesale thing; that would be too costumey. Topman reports customers wear the tweed jackets not with matching trousers but jeans, and Albarn combines its version with that other big men's trend, the sweatshirt.

"We don't go out of our way to align ourselves with a particular era but we're always touching on the past," says Ben Dutton, Albarn's buyer, where the Artisan shirt is a bestseller. "It used to be you would go down the pub and boast about the newest technical twist of your Stone Island jacket. Now, if a jacket has a story to tell, it's more appealing."

Menswear trends always swing between the futurism of sportswear and the authenticity of heritage. With a rose-tinted version of Britain in vogue, it makes sense the latter is having a moment now. "This is less New York, more the mountains around Catskills," says Jeremy Langmead, editor-in-chief of Mr Porter, where they are pushing fisherman jumpers, hiking boots and tweedy jackets. "It's about escapism from the stresses and strains of modern metropolitan life."

Hostem takes this idea to an extreme. The boutique, on Redchurch Street in east London, looks like a provisions store from the 20s – with hessian walls, antique jars and shop assistants of a beard-plus-boot type. Instead of stout and aspic, it sells very expensive, very limited runs of menswear pieces that fetishise a pre-mass production model.

Balenciaga. Photograph: Baleciaga

"Designers we work with are using knitting looms and hand-making shoes. We celebrate that technique," says founder James Brown. He points in particular to Geoffrey B Small. "It's just him and two other people," says Brown. "They handfinish everything down to the buttonholes. He'll use berries or bark to dye, old-world techniques." As you might expect, items can take up to a year to produce, and are priced accordingly – a suit is around £2,000.

Brown believes these prices are worth it because they're a way to opt out of trend-based high fashion. "You can buy a Prada jacket one season and it's worthless the next," he says. "This is about investment pieces." But with the look encroaching on the high street, that means early adopters will be on the look out for a new retro icon (20s baseball player? Thirties accountant?). The Peaky Blinders look will definitely still be around for most when the second series begins next year. What Thomas Shelby will be up to, though, we're yet to discover.